Display bier



pri 3U, 1935.

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P. J. HARRAH DISPLAY BIER, i

Filed June 12, 1954 Inventar Phi/p ljfarra/L Patented Apr. 30, 1935Lavar-3s DISPLAY BIER Philip J. Harrah, Bloomfield, llnd., assigner ofone-halt to Chester l. Harrah, Bloomfield,

Ind.

Application June 12, 1934, serial No. 730,309 claims.' (o1. ,e7-27) Theobject of this invention is to provide a bier for the support andconvenient movement of burial caskets, particularly in rooms where theyare displayed for sale andit is desired to segregate a particular casketfrom others in stock, and turn it around from side to side for thecritical inspection of customers. It may also be used for thetransportation of caskets at funerals, but the chief use will be indisplay sales rooms.

An important object of the invention is to provide a bier with a mainbody portion which is supported by transverse end members removably andhingedly attached whereby the ends may be entirely removed with ease ormay be swung around against a side of the body portion, to be completelycovered by the latter and rigidly attached thereto by brace bars whichalso serve to attach the ends to the body portion in the transversepositions of the ends.

A further object is to provide a bier which will be inexpensive tomanufacture, solid and substantial both in performance and appearance,which is capable of a variety of attractive n ishes, and which will bedurable and'convenient.

I accomplish the above and other objects which l will hereinafterappear, by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which-Fig. 1 is a top plan view of my invention in operative assembly; Y

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the bier in folded condition, also showingone end in dotted lines, partially folded, and

Fig. 5 is a fragment in vertical section on the line 5--5 of Fig. 1 on alarger scale than the other views.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views ofthe drawing.

My improved bier is preferably made out of wood in which the main bodyportion is a paneled frame 6, approximately six feet long and inches invertical width. The frame comprises a top rail 1 three inches invertical width and a bottom rail 8, six inches wide, with end strips 9,9 and intermediate strips I), It. Obviously, the above measurements areonly illustrative and may be varied without departing from the spirit ofmy invention.

As the transverse end members H and i2 are body supports which are alikein construction and means of attachment to the body Ei, a description ofone will apply to both and should be so understood.

The'end member Il comprises a pair of verti cal posts or legs i3 and IIl, here shown as approximately two inches square in cross section,

tively, so that actually, the ends of those rails l t and 8 terminateback of the outer vertical edge of 10 the end strip 9. These notchesreceive the repective members i5 and l@ with a close t therein asindicated in Fig. 5, the upper and bottom edges of the end strip 9 beingin contact not only with the respective under and top edges of the siderails l and 8 but also extending outwardly under the frame member E5 andover the bottom member E The extension of the vertical edge of the endstrip S beyond the ends of the rails l' and `8 is made to be such thatthe vertical edge thereof -is in contact with the inner face of thepanel il. Dowel pins i8 and I 9 are xed respectively in the ends of therails 'i and 8 to extend outwardly and enter suitable sockets in themembers l5 and I which contact the ends of those rails. v l

An upper metal brace bar 2li-and a lower bar 2l have one end of each barpivotally attached to members l5 and i6, respectively, and have theirother ends pivotally attached to the top rail 'l and bottom rail 8 ofthe main body portion 6 of the bier.

Pivotally secured to the member l5, on the other side or the bodyportion E, is a metal brace bar 22, and similarly to the bottom memberi6, is a brace bar 23. The opposite or inner ends of brace bars 22 and23 have depending pins 24, riveted to them and by means of which pinsthe inner ends of bars 22 and 23 are removably secured to the top rail land bottom rail 8 respectively of the body 6, by seating the pins inclose tting sockets 25 formed in the respective railsfor that purpose.Duplicate sockets 25 are formed in rails 'l and 8 nearer the middles ofsaid rails to receive the pins of the bier when folded, as will behereinafter particularly described.

Roller castors 2l are attached to the lower ends of the Yfour legs I3,I3 and I4, I4, to enable the bier to be moved in any direction; and toreduce the height of the bier and avoid interference of the castors withtheir supported structure the legs are shortened and the lower cornersof the transverse ends are cut away as shown at 28 in Fig. 3,su'iciently, to give clearance for the castor wheels in all positions ofthe wheels.

Each of the four legs of the bier will preferably be provided withrubber bearings 23 for the direct contact with the caskets which will besupported by and transported on the bier.

When it is desired to remove the end members Il, all of the metal bracerods are disconnected from the body frame 6, and the members ll pushedoff of the dowel pins and away fromthe frame 6.

More generally, however, it is desired to fold the bier into a morecompact body, as for transportation and storage.

Assuming that the bier is assembled for use, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,it may be readily folded by drawing the pins 24, ofthe bars 22 and 23out of their sockets. Then'the end ll is pressed out of engagement withthe dowel pins, and being thus free to move independently of the body 6it is swung in the direction shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4, with thebars 2!) and 2| acting as hinge bars, to the position shown by fulllines in Fig. 4, which position is with the end frame in direct Contactwith the body E. Because of the lengths of the bars 20 and 2| the endframe il is entirely within the area of the body 6, as shown. Thatfolded position is retained by entering the pins 24 on the bars 22 and23 in the auxiliary sockets 25.

Changes in form, proportion, sige, and the minor details of constructionwithin the scope of the appended claims may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit or sacricing any of the advantages of thisinvention.

What I claim is- 1. In a bier, a body comprising longitudinal top andbottom members and vertical members at each end of the body connectingthe top and bottom members, a support at each end of the body secured torespective verticalmembers of the body and both of the supportsextending laterally on both sides of said body, and brace bars one oneach side of the body hinged at an end of each to a support at pointsremote from the body and extending diagonally to the body and secured tothe body.

2. In a bier, a body. comprising longitudinal top and bottom members andvertical members forming a rectangular frame, rectangular frames one ateach end of the body transverse to the body and projecting on each sideof the body and removably secured thereto, link bars on one side of thebody hingedly securing the end frames to the body and other link bars onthe other side of the body hingedly secured at an end of such link to atransverse frame and having pins at their other ends removably insertedin sockets in the body frame.

3. In a bier, a body comprising a rectangular elongated frame notched atthe end corners, dowel pins in the notches, supports at the ends of theframe comprising rectangular frames having sockets in the top and bottommembers of the frame midway of their ends and receiving correspondingdowel pins of the body frame therein, and diagonal brace bars extendingfrom the end supports to the body.

4. In a bier, a body comprising a rectangular elongated frame notched atthe end corners, dowel pins in the notches, supports at the ends of theframe comprising rectangular frames having sockets in the top and bottommembers of the frame midway of their ends and receiving correspondingdowel pins of the body frame therein, and diagonal brace bars extendingfrom the end supports to the body, the bars on one side of the body ofthe bier being readily detachable from the body for convenient foldingon the other bars as hinges.

5. In a bier a body comprising an elongated rectangular frame havingvertical members notched at the corners, dowel pins seated in thenotches, end supports comprising a rectangular frame with top and bottomframe members between which the end of the body between the notchesmakes a close t, said top and bottom end support members having holes inwhich the dowel pins are seated, brace bars at top and bottom of thebody-frame pivotally secured at one end of each brace bar to therespective top and bottom frame members of the end supports, said bracebars extending thence to the body frame to which the other ends of thebrace bars are pivotally secured, the bars on one side of the body framehaving means for quick and easy detachment of the' bars from the bodyframev to permit the end supports to be folded on the other links intocontact with the body frame, said body-frame having auxiliary socketsreceiving the pins of the links in folded position of the end supports.

PHILIP J HARRAH.

